Do you know that my grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Chapter 70 New Year's Arrangements

People in the arena involuntarily.

This can be considered the most accurate portrayal of officialdom.

Wang Min usually behaved very mediocrely, and in Wang You's opinion, he was not very suitable to be an official, but he was able to say such profound words, which surprised him quite a bit.

"Hey kid, what kind of look is that?"

Wang Min noticed something strange in his son's eyes, even though he didn't know what he was thinking.

"It's nothing."

Wang You shook his head repeatedly and said with a grin, "Since Father knows this, as long as you are careful when you get to Bianjing, nothing will happen."

My grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, even though he had offended many people in the past. But that title is still very useful; as long as our family doesn't actively offend anyone, no one will make things difficult for us.

"That's true."

Wang Min nodded and said, "Just remember what your father told you before."

"I've got it." Wang You nodded.

…………

The death of the young prince only had some impact on the upper class, but had no impact on ordinary people.

For ordinary people, they don't care who is the emperor or whether the emperor has a son.

As the year draws to a close, Shouzhou City is becoming increasingly lively.

Ten days before the Chinese New Year, Wang Zhuo returned.

When her eldest son returned, Madam Feng was very excited. She pulled Wang Zhuo aside and looked him over, exclaiming that he had lost weight.

"Mother, you said the same thing when I came back from Bianjing last time. Can't you say something else?" Wang You teased.

"What's wrong?"

Madam Feng glared at her and said, "So you're already finding your mother annoying?"

"Mother, my brother has been telling me a lot about how you always talk about him since he was in Luoyang."

Although Wang Zhuo missed his mother, he was still young and couldn't quite handle her enthusiasm.

He immediately added fuel to the fire, hoping that Wang You would help him divert his mother's attention.

"Is that so?" Upon hearing this, Madam Feng looked at Wang You with some hostility.

"Mother, don't listen to your older brother's nonsense."

Wang You hurriedly said, "I just feel that my elder brother will be eighteen after the New Year, and it's time for him to get married."

"Little brother, you..."

Wang Zhuo gritted his teeth and glared at Wang You, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Your brother is right, you're of marriageable age too," Madam Feng nodded in agreement.

Marrying and having children, extending the family line, are major events for the family.

Moreover, Wang Zhuo was the eldest son of the legitimate wife.

Wang You glanced at Wang Zhuo smugly, as if to say, "Come on, let's hurt each other."

"Snapped!"

But his joy was short-lived, as Madam Feng slapped him on the back.

"How dare you joke about your older brother's marriage? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out?" Madam Feng said irritably.

"Ha ha."

Wang Zhuo laughed heartily when he saw his younger brother get the short end of the stick.

"Let's go, your grandmother has been talking about you these past few days, don't keep her waiting."

After chatting and laughing at the door for a while, Madam Feng's mood calmed down. She sent someone to the government office to fetch Wang Min back, and then invited Wang Zhuo and the others to go to Jingxin Hall.

Officials' daily work is quite easy and not much.

Moreover, things are actually less busy during the Lunar New Year than at other times.

Because people in ancient times did not move around much, unlike in later generations when large numbers of people would return to their hometowns during the Lunar New Year, causing many problems.

Even if people in ancient times had conflicts in ordinary times, they would be relatively restrained during festive occasions like the New Year.

Officials do not have a strict get off work schedule, and when there is nothing to do, they can stay at home without anyone saying anything.

However, Wang Min was about to be promoted and did not want to leave any gossip, so he went to the yamen office early in the morning and returned late every day.

After arriving at Jingxin Hall to pay their respects, Grandma Wang excitedly pulled her eldest grandson aside, inquiring about his well-being and studies.

Despite having already obtained an official position by passing the prodigy exam, Wang You did not.

But ultimately, Wang Zhuo is the eldest son and will inherit the family business in the future.

No matter how well Wang You performs or how promising he is, it is impossible for him to inherit the family business.

Others would surely be jealous, but Wang You wasn't; instead, he smiled as he watched the scene unfold.

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. In the social environment of ancient times, rules were the most important thing, whether it was a large family or a small family.

Only rules and regulations can ensure the long-term continuation of a family.

When Wang Min returned, Old Madam Wang ordered someone to prepare a meal, and the family enjoyed a family feast at Jingxin Hall.

After the meal, Madam Feng and Mu Jie'er chatted with the old lady, while Wang Min sat with them for a while before calling Wang Zhuo and Wang You to the study.

This is something Wang Zhuo always does when he goes to study in other places.

After returning home and having a family reunion dinner, Wang Min would call Wang Zhuo to the study to test his studies.

Afterwards, I would listen to their stories and then share some of my own insights and reflections.

In previous years, they would never call him Wang You, but now they do, probably because he has become an official and is no longer a child in his parents' eyes.

Wang You was quite happy about this. He insisted on participating in the prodigy exam. Besides wanting to get an official position, wasn't he also hoping that his parents wouldn't treat him like a child?

The father and his two sons arrived at the study. Wang Min invited them to sit down, and after the servants brought tea, he sent them away. Then he began to test Wang Zhuo's knowledge.

It was simply a matter of selecting a passage from the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as other classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections, and having Wang Zhuo explain his understanding of it.

The assessment lasted for more than half an hour, and Wang You was getting sleepy before it finally ended.

"That's good. Your knowledge is more solid than before, and your understanding is more mature. It seems you haven't been slacking off this year," Wang Min said with satisfaction.

"Thank you for your praise, Father. I know I still have shortcomings, and I will study hard next year," Wang Zhuo said.

"Being neither arrogant nor impatient is very good."

Wang Min nodded and said, "I will be going to the capital to take up an official post after the New Year, and I want to send you to study at the Imperial Academy in Bianjing. You are not young anymore, and it is time for you to take the imperial examination."

It was quite normal for scholars to take the county-level examinations at the age of sixteen or seventeen.

The purpose was not to pass the exam, but to get used to the atmosphere of the imperial examination system.

Wang Zhuo will be eighteen years old after the New Year, but he has never even participated in the provincial examination.

This was because the imperial examination system included a household registration system.

Apart from the children of officials, other people could only participate in the imperial examinations in their place of household registration.

Officials' children could participate in the ceremony in their place of household registration or in the place where their father served as an official.

After all, officials are often stationed in different places, some very far from their ancestral homes. You can't expect their sons to travel all the way back to their hometown to take the exam.

Because Wang Zhuo was studying in Luoyang, he was not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations so as not to delay his studies.

Once they move their whole family to Bianjing, there will be no need for Wang Zhuo to study in Luoyang.

This way, the family can be reunited without having to separate.

Wang Zhuo had no objection to participating in the imperial examination, but he had a different opinion about going to Bianjing to study.

"Father, recently many students from the Imperial Academy in Bianjing have transferred to Luoyang, and many of them come from families of officials in the capital."

Wang Zhuo whispered, "I heard that it's all to avoid the imperial family members at the Imperial Academy in Bianjing."

"Um?"

Wang Min was taken aback. After pondering for a moment, he frowned and said, "The prince has only just died, and someone is already so impatient?"